Collected Poems, by C.P. Cavafy (2025)

Ρε τον Καβάφη! You cheeky shy poet you! This collection of Cavafy’s work was presented roughly in chronological order in terms of each poem’s publication. Cavafy was a Greek of the diaspora, living in the 1800s and early 1900s. He was contemplative, and almost academic. He had a romantic view of Hellenism in the diaspora and frequently wrote of the classics, presented many conflicting views of Christianity – or more specifically views of Christians, and of course wrote lovingly and beautifully about lust and eroticism, often leaning into the mystical and beautiful aspects of his own erotic underworld. Some of his poems were hard to understand without the appropriate context of classical references or even geographical references, but generally I found his poetry provided a great insight into life back then and Hellenism in north Africa and the Middle East. It’s hard to put into words, I’m quite sure what it is, but as a Greek of the diaspora, there’s something in common there. It spoke to me!